gwern comments on Open Thread: February 2010, part 2 - Less Wrong

10 Post author: CronoDAS 16 February 2010 08:29AM

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Comment author: bgrah449 16 February 2010 03:56:36PM *  2 points [-]

The reason ancient Greek writers thought women were like children is the same reason men in all cultures think women are like children: There are significant incentives to do so. Men who treat women as children reap very large rewards compared to those men who treat women as equals.

EDIT: If someone thinks this is an invalid point, please explain in a reply. If the downvote(s) is just "I really dislike anyone believing what he's saying is true, even if a lot of evidence supports it" (regardless of whether or not evidence currently supports it) then please leave a comment stating that.

EDIT 2: Supporting evidence or retraction will be posted tonight.

EDIT 3: As I can find no peer-reviewed articles suggesting this phenomenon, I retract this statement.

Comment author: gwern 18 February 2010 03:16:22AM 3 points [-]

Men who treat women as children reap very large rewards compared to those men who treat women as equals.

The article suggests a direct counter-example: by having high standards, the men forfeit the labor of the women in things like 'help[ing] with finance and political advice'. Much like the standard libertarian argument against discrimination: racists narrow their preferences, raising the cost of labor, and putting themselves at a competitive disadvantage.

Men may as a group have incentive to keep women down, but this is a prisoner's dilemma.